Who would have thunk it?

[Scotty Xtreme]

Hey, just wondering if anybody else has heard about Peter Jackson getting nominated for an Oscar for his work on LOTR.  I wonder if he ever imagined this day coming when he was shooting BadTaste or Braindead?

[J.R.]

I was happy as a schoolgirl when I heard that. But, of course, the Oscars are totally meaningless. But on the other hand, it is nice to see someone so gifted yet underappreciated get recognized. I thought, "I wonder how many Academy voters have seen 'Bad Taste'". If only the Academy could get around to honoring Sam Raimi (directing), Tom Savini (Makeup) and George Romero (screenwriting).

[Vermin Boy]

Has Savini really never been nominated? You'd think, with his level of recognition, he'd at least have gotten a nod by now.

[movienerd]

and now that he's nominated studios will be willing to give him more money to do totally crazy movies.

[No Nukes]

Not me, certainly.

Going mainstream for him might be a really good thing (as in the case of George Lucas) or a really bad thing (as in the case of David Lynch.)

Only time will tell...

-No Nukes, the Satanic Pikachu

[Vermin Boy]

Actually, going "mainstream" did David Lynch a lot of good; the only reason he did Dune was so that he could get the money to make Blue Velvet, which in turn led to more of his trademark, twisted stuff.

I hope Jackson does return to his roots after the Rings movies. It's a situation like this that led to From Dusk Till Dawn; Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodrigues realized that they could get away with just about anything, and proceded to make one of the most twisted Hollywood films of the 90s.

[Chris K.]

Not many people know that Peter Jackson is VERY PROUD of his early features like BAD TASTE, BRAINDEAD, and HEAVENLY CREATURES. I know people at my school who have seen both BRAINDEAD and LORD OF THE RINGS and feel Jackson should be ashamed of his earlier work and be proud of his new material. Of course, these are the same people who found AMERICAN PIE to be genius filmmaking and the real truth about teens (If this film tells the truth about teens, then how many teens out there REALLY bang an apple pie? Genius filmmaking my ass.).

Yet what they don't know is that BRAINDEAD won 16 international awards while LORD OF THE RINGS is only NOMINATED for 13 Academy Awards. I know a friend of mine who thinks international awards are nothing. How untrue is this! Being known internationaly to other countries is, in my opinion, way better than being known in the U.S. At least in other countries like Spain, England, and Japan they understand Jackson's talent in BRAINDEAD, unlike here where lousy do-gooders, dumbass politicians, stoned sexed out teens, and crappy parents find his films to be so-called pornographic in violence. Has any of these people seen FREDDY GOT FINGERED, a film made in the United States of America and not New Zealand? I wonder. Compare to these films, FREDDY GOT FINGERED is a perfect example of pornographic violence (and unfunny violence). And that film was made in Hollywood and in the U.S.

Hell, BRAINDEAD got rave reviews from the Hollywood Reporter to Variety! How many horror-comedies get that type of treatment? Not many.

The Academy Awards are overrated and dull. If they awarded the flick TRAFFIC for an Academy Award, then you just know something is wrong.

As for Jackson returning to the horror-comedy genre, I have a script here waiting for him. I think he will like it.

[Lee]

GO CHRIS!!!!!! I TOTALLT AGREE! WHY THE HELL SHOULD JACKSON BE ASHAMED OF HIS EARLIER WORK? THOSE ARE AWESOME MOVIES!!! HELL, I ENJOYED THOSE WAY MORE THAN LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!!